Malama Loko Ea Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271307663
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Haleiwa, HI, USA
Phone
8086373232
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,439,690
Expenses
$1,222,395
Assets
$2,896,941
Liabilities
$7,807

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RAE DECOITO (EXECUTIVE DI): $104,635 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Perpetuate the native hawaiian culture through education, land stewardship, and community building, while sustainably restoring our precious natural resources.

What it reported doing in 2025

Kupuohi education program overview: strives to teach students pre-k to post college, about sustainability, science, language arts, hawaiian culture, and land-stewardship with exciting hands-on, experiential activities. Our goal is to inspire students to learn about and care for their environment while developing their sense of place. Kulaiwi nani restoration overview: in-person community workdays with limited group capacities, adhering to cdc safety guidelines for covid. Volunteers assist with restoration and maintenance activities focusing on auwai kai and makaha maintenance, and invasive plant and fish species removal. Kaiaulu (community) programs overview: mlef continued its partnership with the north shore food bank to serve those most impacted by covid in our surrounding community. Mlef provide monthly food from its community imu to distribute hot meals once-a-month during the north shore food bank's food distribution at kaiaka park. Kumu ikena overview: mlef also continued to hold our community outreach and cultural classes (kumu ikena) to bring cultural awareness to our community and community partners through teaching native hawaiian traditions and practices. Mlef hosts bi-monthly community cultural workshops on topics from lauhala weaving, la`aulapa`au, imu building and cooking, all about kalo, and more. We also started building our traditional native hawaiian hale (thatched house) that will be our future site for hosting future kumu ikena classes and events.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.7%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 94%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $137.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 49.9%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.37; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.8% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.7% of revenue deployed · 94% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.